Once again this year the Broadcasting Board of Governors finished at the very bottom of the OPM Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS). AFGE Local 1812 urges upper management to take the results seriously. Read more >>>

NFL players have bee kneeling during the presentation of the National Anthem to show support for ex-player Colin Kaepernick who was kneeling in protest against the mistreatment of African-Americans by law enforcement officials. Does the First Amendment give the players the right to do this? Read more >>>

While I was thinking of what I should post for Labor Day 2017, I read a commentary by Howard Scott of the Pennsylvania Labor History Society which pretty much said it all. We are presenting it here with the permission of the author. Read more >>>

The Agency distributed a "Management Accountability Charter" which was supposed to ensure employees that they could report suspected violations without fear of reprisal. It turns out that is not the case. Read more >>>

Union Steward, Chris Cruise wondered why the Agency was not offering TSP training courses and looked into whether it could be done. Through his persistence these courses are now a reality and available not just for Union members but all the Agency's employees. Read more >>>

Every so often one of our colleagues does something that truly derserves special recognition. Most would agree that saving the life of a fellow employee certainly falls into that category. Read more >>>

We have been getting questions from our bargaining unit members regarding the Agency’s “Best Practices Guide for Social Media”. Specifically, employees want to know if the Agency can restrict what they post on their own private social media sites. The answer: in some cases, almost certainly - yes - and in others, probably not. Read more >>>

Just like the annual cherry blossoms signaling spring, we await the next installment of the OPM Employee Viewpoint survey. In 2016, just as in all the preceding years, the BBG dwelled in the depths of the cellar as it received its annual tiara imprinted with the shivery words: One of the Worst Places to Work in the Federal Government. Once again, bottom of the barrel. So, the perplexing questions of WHY?, WHAT-THE?, OH, NO need to be addressed in an attempt to try and solve the puzzle of why this Agency has failed so often and so badly. It really shouldn't take a Ph.D in rocket science to figure it out. Read more >>>

AFGE Local 1812 officials found a video from a management consultant who we believe speaks directly to the reasons for the very serious morale problem at the VOA. Please watch the video and let us know what you think Read more >>>

Employees have for many years complained about being cheated out of overtime pay. This has been a chronic problem at the Broadcasting Board of Governors. We provided our members with a fact sheet so that they would be armed with the correct information. Read more >>>

Employees of the VOA dodged a privatization effort by the skin of their teeth. An amendment added to a bill completely unrelated to international broadcasting sought to allow the authority to establish a non-federal broadcasting entity to duplicate what the VOA does. Read more >>>

Employees have complained to the Union that stress on the job has become an even more serious problem at this Agency. AFGE Local 1812 takes a look at how stress is a concern that management should address. Read more >>>

After finally complying with an arbitrator's decision, the BBG is once again violating the provision of the Smith/Mundt Act that requires the Agency to give priority to United States citizens in promotions and filling vacancies. Read more >>>

For the 9th year in a row a wreath laying ceremony took place at the Victims of Communism memorial located at the intersections of Massachusetts Avenue, New Jersey Avenue, and G Street, NW in Washington, DC. Read more >>>

On Thursday, June 2, an e-mail popped up in the mailboxes of VOA/IBB/BBG employees entitled Message from CEO and Director John Lansing Regarding the Thornberry Amendment. The Thornberry Amendment is an amendment to the House of Representatives version of the FY 2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Read more >>>

In its FY 2017 Budget proposal the BBG has once again requested the de-federalization of TV and Radio Marti. This despite the fact that Congress has made it quite clear that this goes against its wishes when this was attempted last year through the budget process. Read more >>>

During the latest Washington area snow emergency numerous employees at the VOA, who were designated as emergency employees, were forced to risk life and limb to report to the Cohen Building. FEMA, which has legislative authority to do so, provided a hotel room and meals for its emergency employees. It seems an easy case to make for the BBG, who has designated all its positions as national security sensitive and claims that it is crucial to continue broadcasts even during weather emergencies, that legislative authority to provide rooms and meals for its emergency employees is needed. We are not aware of the BBG making any effort to get this authority. Read more >>>

Recent changes to how the Voice of America operates have lead to various serious problems. A serious lack of staffing in positions that actually produce the broadcasts have created a situation where overworked broadcasters have been forced to cut corners which threatens the credibility of the VOA. Read more >>>

VOA employees have been doing much more with less for over a decade. It is time to increase resources - especially adding broadcasters. It is also time to get back to following the VOA Charter. Read more >>>

Earlier this year Federal Employees learned that millions of us had our identity stolen. The information was compromised on OPM information systems. AFGE Local 1812 member, Chris Cruise had prior experience with protecting personal identity and knew steps people could take to minimize the damage if one's identity had been stolen. He agreed to do a couple of presentations - and not just for Union members but open to all. The presentation was recorded by Union member, Dave Allison. We provide links to the presentation in three parts as a service to all employees at the Broadcasting Board of Governors. Read more >>>

The VOA has VOA employees performing work for foreign broadcasting entities. The so-called affiliate strategy has the potential to seriously erode the VOA’s credibility and its ability to fulfill the VOA Charter. Read more >>>

The annual Victims of Communism Memorial wreath laying ceremony was held on June 15th and AFGE Local 1812 was there to represent past and present employees who play(ed) a crucial role in the battle against hostile ideologies. Read more >>>

The Broadcasting Board of Governors lost again in their fight to deny U.S. citizens the priority in promotions they are entitled to. The FLRA just affirmed an Administrative Law Judge's decision. The Union grievance was first filed in 2006 and the Back Pay owed to covered employees has just continued to grow as Agency officials have delayed the inevitable. Read more >>>

Here we go again. More threatened RIFs of broadcasters and journalists, more cuts and eliminations of language services and direct broadcasts. Shortly after one man pledged to grow the Agency, he leaves and the cuts are announced. Read more >>>

On November 19, 2011, Arbitrator Suzanne Butler ruled in favor of the Union and awarded employees of the Office of Cuba Broadcasting who had been separated as part of a reduction-in-force Back Pay and reinstatement. Three years later, to the day, they finally began seeing tangible results of that case. Read more >>>

In a pattern repeated now for over a decade, IBB/VOA upper management received failing grades in the annual OPM Human Capital survey. Will this be the year that something constructive is done about this persistent problem? Read more >>>

In an All Hands meeting, VOA Director David Ensor spoke about the Agency’s WE initiative. He was asked to identify a few of the initiative’s accomplishments and was not able to do so. The two examples he gave were not issues that were accomplished by the WE initiative.

There has been a large hue and cry regarding the international broadcasting reform legislation now working its way through the Congress. Some want others to believe that this legislation is a threat to journalism and are enlisting people to "fight for journalism". The wording in the legislation that has raised the hackles of some is nothing new and is contained in the current law. Read more >>>

The BBG is hard at work trying to fix major problems regarding its contracting practices brought to light by on OIG investigation. AFGE Local 1812 is not sure the proposed course of action will resolve the illegalities. Read more >>>

Congress seems to be determined to reform what has widely been criticized as a defunct and dysfunctional Agency - the Broadcasting Board of Governors. The first attempt at addressing the problem is HR-4490, a Bill passed unanimously by the House Committee with oversight over the BBG. Although the Bill is not perfect it is likely that a Bill in some form will be passed. Read more >>>

What started as a dark overcast day changed to bright sunshine just in time for the annual ceremony at the Victims of Communism Memorial in Washington, DC. AFGE Local 1812 in conjunction with the employees of the VOA China Branch took part of the event. Read more >>>

The title pretty much sums it up. Agency officials keep using the same tactics when they violate the law, just keep filing legal appeals in the hope that the issue will just go away. This is the same behavior that brought about at the time the largest government settlement payout ever in ther Hartman v. Albright discrimination case. Read more >>>

Significant numbers of VOA employees have expressed a fear that, should proposed BBG/IBB/VOA and surrogate(s) reform legislation be passed, the integrity of U.S. international broadcasts will be compromised and perceptions suffer. AFGE Local 1812’s Executive Board shares some of these concerns but believes that the Bill, with more explicit protection for the news content, should be enacted. Read more >>>

On May 16,2014 the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit dismissed the BBG’s appeal to Federal Arbitrator Suzanne R. Butler’s decision regarding the illegal firing of 16 OCB employees. Read more >>>

The folly of becoming reliant on in-country affiliates to transmit Voice of America news and information has now become exposed during the Russian/Ukrainian crisis. AFGE Local 1812 calls on the BBG to reinvest in shortwave radio broadcasts.

How can you get away with not paying your workers – or at least not paying them for months? Just categorize them as not being employees but “independent contractors”, a legal fiction that has allowed the managers at BBG to abuse certain workers without fear of being held accountable. Read more >>>

OCB employees in the final stage of an unnecessarily long and drawn out process. The Appeals Court heard the BBG's appeal to the FLRA's decision upholding Arbitrator Suzanne Butler's award. Read more >>>

The Washington Post’s Joe Davidson wrote an article focused on the BBG’s dismal and long festering morale problem. In that article a management official revealed that they do not consider it as being critical. In fact, they believe the problem can wait to be corrected in 3 or maybe even 5 years. Read more >>>

AFGE Local 1812 has sponsored a tree planting in Knoxville, TN, to honor former Governor Victor Ashe. Governor Ashe was willing to roll up his sleeves and work on the many problems that plagued the Broadcasting Board of Governors and have been reflected in the annual OPM Employee Viewpoint Survey year after year. Many believe that because of his willingness to look into the serious morale crisis at the Voice of America and the Office of Cuba Broadcasting, Agency bureaucrats maneuvered to have him removed from the Board. Read more >>>

In an editorial published last year, AFGE Local 1812 noted that at
"the BBG, it apparently takes a lot of lawyers to keep the place going. We refer to the fact that in Fiscal Year 2008, the General Counsel’s office had a staff of six. For Fiscal Year 2014, the same office will count 15 employees and that doesn't include contractors." With an office full of more and more attorneys, how does the Agency manage to continue to run afoul of the law?

Earlier, we posted a story about the morale crisis at the Agency. Now, after receiving responses to a union survey from our members, we would like to post some suggestions as to how employee morale can be improved. We intend to continue collecting responses from our members and will continue to offer suggestions as we get additional information.

Agency management seems intent on preventing Agency employees from carrying out the Voice of America mission. All the emphasis on Television, Internet, and social media has resulted in a dismal and defunct status. Read more >>>

Our Founding Fathers believed in the rule of law, so much so that one of the first things they did was to enact a Constitution. When government officials fail to follow the law it undermines the entire system. How do we, as employees of an Agency charged with promoting American ideals (as well as other parts of the VOA Charter), rectify the blatant flaunting of the law by the government officials running this Agency?

Should the BBG be in the business of fighting Internet interdiction. Especially when that may take resources away from the job of getting our message out. Some in the Agency are so determined to use a particular platform that making that platform succeed has become the mission of the Agency itself. Read more >>>

James Warren wrote an opinion piece that appeared in the New York Daily News on December 22, 2013, according to which “a change-averse union” was partly to blame to the Voice of America’s problems. We responded directly to Mr. Warren for this misperception. Read more >>>

Recently The Washington Post printed a story that bolstered our argument that management’s efforts to end direct broadcasts and convert the Agency to primarily an Internet entity is a mistake. Read more >>>

President Obama met and praised Cuban dissidents on November 8th. AFGE Local 1812 wonders if he knows of a Cuban emigre who was working at the Office of Cuba Broadcasting and who was being treated shabbily by federal officials. Read more >>>

We have heard numerous complaints from Congressional staffers that BBG/IBB officials have used the Firewall (the protection embedded in the VOA Charter from political interference in the news product of the VOA) to ignore the will of the Congress and other entities. This selective use of the “firewall” has made some on Capitol Hill more willing to restructure the BBG. Read more >>>

The people running the VOA no longer seem interested in following the mandate to present U.S. views to the world. Providing news about events impacting the White House and the State Department is not necessarily acting as a propaganda mouthpiece. Read more >>>

U.S. Presidents from Truman to Reagan knew how important it was to combat false ideologies with the truth. It’s been a long time since the VOA and the other broadcasting elements have been used effectively in this effort. Read more >>>

For years, we at AFGE Local 1812 have been concerned about the bloated bureaucracy whose stranglehold on the Agency has increased at the expense of its primary mission: news coverage and telling America's story to the world. Recently concrete evidence of this bloated bureaucracy was posted on the website BBG Watch. Read more >>>

Voice of America officials, even the Director, are not truly free to publicly represent the best interests of the organization. The BBG/IBB Executive Staff have too much control over VOA officials. Read more >>>

Agency officials keep implying that they did nothing wrong when they hired non-U.S. citizens for positions for which suitably qualified U.S. citizens applied. Instead Agency officials imply that the U.S. citizens were not qualified to do the work. Read more >>>

Former U.S. Ambassador to Poland Victor Ashe will no longer be on the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), the U.S. Senate having confirmed former U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker to replace him on the bipartisan board in charge of U.S. international broadcasting, as requested by the White House.

While Agency managers were busy trying to improve their results in the OPM Employee Viewpoint survey, they were working behind the scenes to prevent the possibility of ever again being rated as the worst management in all government - do away with all rank and file federal employees and there will be no survey and no results Read more >>>

Why would Agency officials not jump at the chance to rehire employees who were ruled to be illegally fired when positions are announced for which they qualify? It couldn’t possibly be because these employees were targets of Agency management’s animus.

The House Committee on Foreign Affairs held a hearing about the BBG entitled “The Broadcasting Board of Governors: An Agency Defunct”. Three witnesses were called to testify and all three had different ideas on what U.S. International Broadcasting was meant to do. Read more >>>

This is the second article of a series in which we put some of these issues in the spotlight. Some are a part of the background or undercurrent of VOA workplace culture, some are concrete and specific, coming from and contributing to our workplace culture. The goal is not to be negative or discouraging, though it may seem so at times, but to put a light on items many see as needing attention, and perhaps correction, with the idea that improvement is possible if we’re willing to start by being honest and open with problematic issues. Has VOA management truly begun sailing toward a better Agency for employees, or is management pointing to a brighter horizon while still tied to unsuccessful moorings? Read more >>>

A culture of intimidation is alive and well within the International Broadcasting Bureau. The unaccountable bureaucrats within the Agency not only try to intimidate those who are charged with overseeing them but also even those who attempt to hold them accountable in the Press. There may be no barriers as to whom they will attempt to smear and intimidate.

AFGE Local 1812 has obtained a document in which Agency managers are being recruited by upper management to cajole employees into filling out the Annual OPM Employee Viewpoint Survey. The document even suggests informing employees about so called “differences” that have been made as a result of the survey. Read more >>>

Has there really been any significant change at the Agency that would result in improved morale? And why would the White House wish to remove the member of the Board who is the most vocal supporter of improving morale?

As VOA employees, don’t most of us believe in the idea of a VOA that carries out its mission well? We often see opportunities and challenges that can be faced with enthusiasm and resolve in carrying out VOA’s mission. Many of us also experience workplace issues that are discouraging and tend to dissipate the energy of the otherwise justifiable enthusiasm we might carry.

We’re starting a series in which we hope to put some of these issues in the spotlight. Some are a part of the background or undercurrent of VOA workplace culture, some are concrete and specific, coming from and contributing to our workplace culture. The goal is not to be negative or discouraging, though it may seem so at times, but to put a light on items many see as needing attention, and perhaps correction, with the idea that improvement can come about if we’re willing to deal honestly and openly with problems.

While IBB managers are pushing hard for employees to participate in the annual Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey, mandating service chiefs to encourage their staffs to do so, and providing them with talking points to convince skeptical employees, AFGE Local 1812 members tell us it’s hard to muster any enthusiasm for that annual ritual. The big question on many members’ minds is: here we go again, but when, if ever, will anything change? Read more >>>

There are over 20 unfilled positions in the English-language Newsroom which are likely to disappear in the pending RIF, while language services struggle to do the work that the Newsroom used to do. You know, basic stuff like putting out news relevant to their region of the world. Read more >>>

It’s come to our attention that with the pay of Federal employees frozen for three years, while inflation rears its ugly head and health, transportation and food costs go up ever higher, some Agency employees are resorting to freelance work outside the Agency to make ends meet. Read more >>>

AFGE Local 1812 remains concerned over an OIG investigation that was recently conducted at the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG). The investigation and subsequent report seemed intent on limiting the BBG’s role and strengthening that of the IBB Executive Staff. Read more >>>

Anyone walking around the Cohen Building is well acquainted with the many virtuous postings, initiated by IBB officialdom, regarding, among other things, the need for employees to be courteous to one another. Read more >>>

On the first full day of Spring 2013 the Agency released its action plan for improving morale. We find that the disappointment in the air is not limited to just the prediction of Punxsutawney Phil. Read more >>>

The Hartman v. Albright case may have cost U.S. taxpayers some 500 million dollars in 2001, but Agency Executives were able to simply shrug and move on. They were protected by legal immunity granted to public servants in their official duties. Read more >>>

We continue a series of articles dealing with the senior executive staff’s plan to gut the Voice of America. The plan involves cutting the heart out of the organization which would allow for the possibility of either splitting off or eliminating its multiple services. If this plan is implemented it will be a disaster for the VOA. Read more >>>

We continue a series of articles dealing with the senior executive staff’s plan to gut the Voice of America. The plan involves cutting the heart out of the organization which would allow for the possibility of either splitting off or eliminating its multiple services. If this plan is implemented it will be a disaster for the VOA. Read more >>>

Those of us who have been warning for a number of years that an opaque bureaucratic apparatus was taking over the broadcasting agencies of the U.S. government are comforted by the light being shone at long last from outside on that bureaucracy. Read more >>>

We continue a series of articles dealing with the senior executive staff’s plan to gut the Voice of America. The plan involves cutting the heart out of the organization which would allow for the possibility of either splitting off or eliminating its multiple services. If this plan is implemented it will be a disaster for the VOA. Read more >>>

We begin a series of articles dealing with the senior executive staff’s plan to gut the Voice of America. The plan involves cutting the heart out of the organization which would allow for the possibility of either splitting off or eliminating its multiple services. If this plan is implemented it will be a disaster for the VOA. Read more >>>